WASHINGTON — Aditya Chemudupaty, an eighth-grader from Pearland, his hands plunged into the pockets of his signature sweatshirt, calmly strode to the microphone at Friday night’s championship finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But Aditya, 13, found himself tripped up by the word “engysseismology” — which is a geophysical science that deals with earthquakes. His spelling: “engiseismology.” Aditya was one of 10 championship finalists at the bee — five boys and five girls — beating out 273 others to make it to the finals. Anamika Veeramani, 14, of North Royalton, Ohio, won the bee's top prize. Aditya, who attends Nolan Ryan Junior High School, was making his second appearance in the spelling contest. Due to eligibility rules that limit the contest to eighth-graders or younger, however, he is ineligible to return to the bee in 2011. His mother, Aruna, said it was great to see her son get as far as he did in the competition. Sponsored by HoustonPBS, Aditya said it is his affinity for reading that makes him interested in spelling. CNBC’s Darren Rovell had identified Aditya as the favorite of the competition. “Although he’s only a two-time repeater, I liked his confidence last year in his 12th-place finish,” Rovell wrote in a rundown of the finalists and their odds. “I also like the sports angle. He attends Nolan Ryan Junior High School in Alvin, Texas and his favorite player is Tony Romo. It’s hard to deny the fact that the males have won this contest eight out of the last 10 times.” When Aditya was eliminated, Rovell Tweeted: “My top ranked speller Aditya Chemudupaty just misspelled ‘engysseismology’. Really Aditya?”